A taxonomic revision of Herminium L. (Orchidoideae, Orchidaceae)

Abstract

Herminium (Orchidaceae, Orchidoideae) is a medium-sized genus widespread in the northern hemisphere, with a clear centre of diversity in the Himalayas. We present a comprehensive taxonomic revision of Herminium based on field observations and morphological studies, for which we examined about 2500 specimens. We recognize 49 species grouped into six formal sections, including one new species, Herminium tibeticum, from Tibet. We provide an identification key to the species, descriptions of the species, notes on ecology and distribution, and complete nomenclature for each species, including typifications. We here designate lectotypes for five species and reduce four taxa to synonymy.

An annotated checklist of Myanmar orchid flora

“…The number of species in the updated checklist is a result of taxonomic attempts, mainly based on our own collections, all available herbarium specimens, checklist of and all relevant literature. As for taxonomic status, we followed the updated classification of Orchidaceae (Chase et al 2015) and all relevant papers of orchid taxonomy and systematics (Pridgeon et al 2001, 2005, Chen et al 2009, Gardiner 2012, Gardiner et al 2013, Jin et al 2014, Vermeulen et al 2014, Raskoti et al 2016, Raskoti et al 2017, Govaerts 2018, Ng et al 2018. In addition, all papers of new species descriptions and new records of Myanmar orchid flora were reviewed to identify the species occurrences and distribution in Myanmar , Roberts et al 2008, Chen et al 2009, Tanaka et al 2010, Ormerod 2012, Pedersen et al 2011, Kurzweil and Lwin 2012a, b, Kurzweil 2013, Kurzweil and Lwin 2014, Aung et al 2017, Jin and Kyaw 2017, Koopowitz et al 2017, Yang et al 2017, Kurzweil and Ormerod 2018, Ding et al 2019, Kang et al 2019, Mu et al 2019, Ya et al 2019.…”

Herminium longilobatum (Orchidaceae), a new record for Bhutan

“…Herminium L. is a genus of terrestrial or rarely epiphytic orchids belonging to the family Orchidaceae (subfamily Orchidoideae, tribe Orchideae and subtribe Orchidinae) (Chase et al 2015). It is represented by 49 species in the world, distributed in the northern hemisphere with a clear center of diversity in the Himalaya (Pearce & Cribb 2002;Raskoti et al 2017). Species are characterized by small greenish, whitish or yellowish flowers on the raceme, a (sub) globose tuber, a lip with a concave or spurred base, and column with the stigma-lobes not adnate to the base of the lip (Raskoti et al 2017).…”

“…Bhutan harbors 19 species of Herminium (Pearce & Cribb 2002;Gurung 2006;Dalstrom 2017;National Biodiversity Centre 2017;Raskoti et al 2017) During a recent field exploration, we found an interesting epiphytic orchid growing on the dead trunk of an oak tree Quercus oxyodon embedded with thick mosses and epiphytic fern at an elevation of 2,746m (27.618 0 N & 91.531 0 E) inside the cool broad-leaved forest on 24 September 2018, in the Serkhang-chuu catchment area of Trashi Yangtse District. Ferns, shrubs, Symplocus species, bamboos, and Quercus semicarpifolia were other associated vegetation in the area.…”

Orchids of Mongolia: Taxonomy, Species Richness and Conservation Status

“…More recently, some genera, such as Herminium L., Spiranthes Rich., and Platanthera Rich. have been revised based on morphological and molecular evidence from Asian countries, including Mongolia [31][32][33]. Our previous study reported Cypripeidum Sw. with a photo illustration, its habitat, species examination, and a detailed distribution map of the country [26].…”